Sparepart

I am finding your description a just little confusing. By "compression struts" do you mean tie bars that can be adjusted, as opposed to the ARB that can't be adjusted.

Thats very clever, an elegant solution. One more factor to add into the considerations, the volatility of the fuel. Presumably the carb was designed before the days of E10 or E5 fuels, when there were usually two octane levels available, regular and super. The timing for a fuel that burns slowly woluld (I think) need to be more advanced than for a fast burning fuel. I guess that its important to keep using the same quality of fuel as you do all this experimenting.

Good news if it's a matter of getting the timing spot on. I just happened to read a small article in PC magazine in the problems section someone was trying to cure spark plugs getting carboned up (I'm assuming poor combustion and emissions would come with this) .. anyway among the items that the expert suggested to look at was the timing as one might have guessed, however he went further and also suggested checking the timing advance through the rev range not just idling. For example you might have vacuum advance on the distributor and a leak in the vacuum pipe from the inlet manifold etc. Also another suggestion was that the fuel pump might be providing fuel at too high a pressure for the carb. When idling the float is high and able to push the inlet valve enough to stop flooding, as the revs rise the float drops but the high pressure rush as the valve opens is enough to cause some flooding, then at higher revs the engine is taking enough petrol to prevent flooding. You might not need all this but I thought I'd mention it in case someone else looks at this thread later.

IF your Westfield is wired as per the referenced diagram then what happens right now at the relay is as follows:- Power arrives at pin 30 from the 3 posn switch when it is headlights on posn. It comes up the wire colored yellow in the diagram (which also energises the fog light switch). If there is no power on pin 86 (looks like 36 on diag) then the relay is switched to energize pin 87 (blue) which powers the low beam filament. The high/low beam switch is used to energise pin 86 which causes the relay to switch power to pin 87A, from 87, i.e. the low beam filament has no power and the high beam filament is given power, and also the high/low beam indicator lamp is illuminated. In order to implement a high beam "flash" function then another relay is not strictly necessary. A momentary switch could be added that enegises pin 87 directly from the live thats live when the ignition is on, so the lights could flash at any time the car has the ignition on, the best place would be from fuse that powers the first connection no 6 in the row of black terminals in the diagram that is for the lights. There is a potential problem with this however, and that is if the headlights are on and using low beam. In this case the "flash" switch would illuminate high beam at the same time, both filaments might draw too much current through fuse 6 and it might blow. So to rule this out, the "flash" switch could be used with another relay that stops power being given to 87A via the flash switch when 87 is energised (i.e. when low beam is on). Hope this makes a bit of sense.

I've done a bit of web browsing, I have no Westfield experience, so take what you will from the following. Have a look at the wiring diagram at http://westfield-world.com/wiring_diagram.html This is most likely what you have. You can see that the headlight relay is only energised from a switch that has 3 positions, off, side and headlights (probably blue rocker?) When the relay is energised it can have it's output controlled between High/Low beam by a second two position switch (what you call toggle I assume). There is no provision in the circuit to energise the Main beam independently, as you desire. To do this, as steveg suggests, you would need another switch and relay. This switch would need to be spring back to off when flicked on.

The maths of your percentages seems impecable. I'd have thought though that the level in the chamber is the important thing not the volume. You say that you have adjusted the float to what it is supposed to be, I wonder what technical manual you obtained the adjustment details from. Below I am including a table from the manual I have which shows two adjustments, level and stroke, perhaps you could check your carb against this. Also could a small leak in the float reduce it's boyancy.

I don't have this carb, I have DFTH 30/34, however in order to recondition it I got hold of a Haynes manual for weber carbs, and chapter 7 covers DGV 32/36. Looking at it there is a description of what happens from cold start all the way through to hot on full throttle. In the bit about normal running it mentions air being drawn through the "air corrector jets", perhaps this is a factor. In the section on fixing problems, there is a mention under execessive fuel consumption of an incorrect level in the float chamber. Hope this might help.

I have done some investigation of the photos of the alternator that you have. I found an article about rebuilding an alternator that looks very much like yours, here is a photo from the article. It looks like you have overkill on the charging cables, in that the big thick cable and the two large spade terminals are all delivering the output from the alternator. I'm gessing that at the starter motor there are two thick cables bolted to the same terminal, one is this one from the alternator and the other then runs to the battery. As the label on the photo here says, the smaller terminal is for the ignition warning light. The warning lamp lead serves two purposes. When the engine is not running, the alternator is not generating a voltage, the warning lamp is also connected to the battery, so a small current will flow from the battery through the lamp (illuminating it) and to the alternator and then the alternator earth. This small current is used by the alternator to start energizing the field coils, so that the alternator can start to generate voltage (and current). Without this small initial current through the alternator it will turn but not produce output. As soon as the output from the alternator reaches a voltage equal to the battery (12v) then the small current through the warning lamp ceases, and the lamp goes out. That's why the "ignition light" works the other way round from normal warning lamps, i.e. it goes off when all is ok. It is not necessary use a lamp to provide the small current, a resistor with the same value as the warning light resistance will do, it's just convenient to kill two birds with one stone. When some people replace all their waring lights with LEDs then if this warning light is replaced, the current flowing through the LED is too small to energise the field coils, and a small cuircuit to wire a resistance in parallel will be needed..........i'll stop now before I bore my own pants off.

I agree, the Haynes manuals for the Sierra helps for Pinto, and also for all the other bits that come from a Sierra donor used in RHE and other kit cars. The most detailed one is the "Owners Workshop Manual" ISBN 1 85010 538 3 (1982 to June 1989) .... but hard to find. The other one is the "Service and Repair Manual" ISBN 1 85960 090 5 (1982 to 1993 K reg) easier to find. Here is a link to a copy for a fiver. https://www.gumtree.com/p/books/haynes-manual-ford-sierra-82-93/1479713537

The sensor in the picture is screwed into the threaded hole that is usually used to drain the coolant from the engine. So it normally has a simple blind threaded bolt head showing. Looking at the PTFE tape that appears to be in two places on the "sensor" I'd guess that an adapter has been used to reduce the hole diameter to the size needed to fix a water temperature sensor, probably for a gauge. Before you ask, the other blind bolt head that is in the photo lower down on the crank case is sealing the hole that is used on some (high spec) models to mount a sensor for a low oil level warning light. I dont know of any drawing for all the sensors. The sensor for coolant temperature is on the other side of the block, just above the disributor, and the oil pressure sensor is also on this side lower down not far from the starter motor. If you have a standard carb inlet manifold (I don't think you have) then depending on the ignition control module there is another coolant temperature sensor on the manifold.

That mark that looks like an F is enigmatic, not quite a proper stamp, but unusual if its just by chance. The head on my Pinto is stamped with the letter P, but it took me a while to find it. Why? ...well its stamped next to Number 4 inlet port and can only be seen properly when the manifold flange is removed AND it upside down with the engine in place. My assumption is that it was stamped when the head was not on the block during manufacture.

I suggest that you scrape the paint off the machined flat surfaces next to the no 4 spark plug, it will then be clear if there are any markings there. If you find an * stamped then look on the other side of the head near the inlet port for no 4, (look there anyway). I have picked up the following information from the various threads on this frequent topic. It might be of use. N.B any marks will be punched not "scratched" or cast in the mold. Unleaded I/D for Pinto next to number 4 spark 1.6-- M,MM,N or NN 1.8-- S or SS 2.0-- P,PP,R or RR Have a look at the shape of the inlet ports. If they are round its no help but if they are cam lobe shape then its an injection head and is unleaded. 'I' OR 'L' stamped next to number 4 spark plug hole= a leaded head most likely to be 1979 - 1982 in age

One assumes thatyou have looked at the literature links in the Wikipedia, like the Steve Hole A to Z book, perhaps not because of the cost. Some car shows on TV seem to be able to let the viewers know how many of car type are still on the road, also classic car magazines ... so how do they find out? The .gov.uk site has a page where you can start making an enquiry https://contact.dvla.gov.uk/vehicle/capture_transaction_type?locale=en&transaction_type_id=requesting_information_from_dvla_vehicle_records

I have done some more digging around, and believe I can now answer my own question, which has been raised in other Ford related forums. The type of spline bit needed is XZN "Tripple Square", the profile being three squares overlayed to form 12 corners of 90 degrees equaly spaced around the circle. At least this is what I am going to buy, I will be after an 8 mm bit of this type. A hex key might work but it wouldn't have 90 degree faces, a square drive would probably be a better fit. I'll update this when I get hold of the XZN to try. In case of interest I am attaching a page from Wikipedia that shows the range screw head types in the world, might be useful if you are trying to find what the head that you see is called.

I have changed a pinto cam belt, but not for a while. I know I have the splined bit that fits the tensioner spring bolt somewhere, BUT where did I put it! ... So many spiders are now homeless in my attempts to locate that strip of 4 or 5 splined sockets/bits....... so I need to buy some more ..... but now I look on-line and am amazed by the number of different splined sockets/bits available, I don't mean different makers, I mean different standards. The one the block that I have looks like it has 12 points, then I see 3 different standards of 12 point splines (at least) depending on the angle between the teeth. I did find a set of bits handed down from my father, but when I tried the one that looked the right diameter it started to go in but was obviouly the wrong tooth angle because it started to make grooves on the sides of the bolt teeth. I searched our extensive database and found the link below, however apart from telling me that a hex key might be ok, there is no definitive information abount exactly the type of splined bit needed. Does anyone here know the details ? https://www.rhocar.org/index.php?/forums/topic/25924-cam-tensioner/